#1 Dominick Cruz vs. Cody Garbrandt
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If there is one fight that made me tear up, it had to be the battle between my favourite fighter Dominick Cruz and the up-and-coming knockout artist and Team Alpha Male protégé Cody Garbrandt.
This was a fight that many Cruz fans took a little too lightly, as the style he possesses is almost custom made to defeat a conventional wrestler-boxer MMA fighter. To Cruz, these fighters are cliché, textbook, predictable and without many options in their arsenal.
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Stephen Thompson and Tyrone Woodley had a similar stylistic match-up, in terms of one party being exceptional at movement and the other being a heavy handed wrestler with boxing background. And we all saw how that went down.
No matter how tricky a style the fighter that employs movement possesses, there is always the unwelcoming aspect of being knocked out in a split second with the first punch that lands square on the jaw.
While the guy who is more fluid and creative in the Octagon may find more angles and striking possibilities, sometimes brute knockout power presents more problems than we expect it to.
However, this was not the case in this fight as Cody ended up controlling the range much better than Cruz; finding more openings and managing to capitalise handsomely on them.
It was almost painful to watch Cruz fail to establish his rhythm early on in the fight as he usually does, and try and run after Cody, as he typically finds his rivals doing to him.
Cody’s slick head movement, orthodox yet fundamentally sound along with crisp and accurate boxing managed to help Cody find Cruz's chin on more than one ocassion. Dropping him many times throughout the fight and almost finishing him on several instances and establishing respect for his punching power in Cruz’s mind throughout the fight.
It was extremely uncharacteristic to see Cruz being hesitant, unable to implement a solid game plan and being outclassed in nearly every exchange in the pocket, except for a few notable exceptions.
Although it must be pointed out that Cruz was still remarkably level headed after the loss and vowed to return with vengeance on his mind. One of the best pound for pound fighters for the better part of the decade, Cruz took the loss like a true Champion and did not shy away from excuses.
I look forward to Cruz's return in the future as he has proved, time and time again, to be his most dangerous self in the light of a return. Overcoming adversity is now second nature to Cruz.
Something Ronda Rousey needs to desperately begin to implement in her own life.
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